Lovely Linen our SNA challenge for August!

Welcome once again to our Monthly Style Not Age Challenge! This month I chose the theme of Lovely Linen which was led mainly by this recent Vinted buy. The dress had no label but also no pockets and at the weekend I set to creating some by using orange linen fabric left over from a dress I made previously. 

Here's the work in progress and I'm delighted to say that despite putting the first pocket in the wrong way round, I finally managed to fathom it out and ended up with two perfectly acceptable and functioning pockets! But, let's take a look at my fashionable friends and see how they approached this month's challenge...

Gail's Lovely Linen dress is a classic shape from Boden in a zingy shade of turquoise. For the past three weeks Gail has been on LEJOG, a cycling adventure from Land's End to John O Groats - so please do swing by to catch up on her news on Is This Mutton blog. 

Emma's wearing a linen mix co-ord from Damson Madder, worn with old sandals and a bag by Skinny Dip. Catch up on the latest from Emma on her blog Style Splash here. 

Jacqui's jacket and trousers may look like a suit but are simply a very good match - well done that girl! She's added a toning tan top to complete the look - see more on Mummabstylish.

There's nothing new from Hilda with her animal print dress by Whistles, but that's not to say it's not on trend - it looks fab. She shopped her wardrobe for this look - see more on Over The Hilda. 

I'd walked for a mile or so to the far end of Pentle Bay in the hope of getting out of the fierce North wind, but still it played havoc with my colourful frock! I wore my orange denim jacket by Forever 21 to keep the chill wind at bay and my blue Lazy Dogz sandals worked very well with the mulit coloured dress. 

The smock dress has a shirred back and sweet puff sleeves and is a lovely cool shape to wear on a summer's day. I wore a simple white beaded necklace with silver heart - a gift from my sister which has been very useful indeed.

My rings are old as as my sunglasses (from Radley London). 

Hiding down below the rocks I almost managed to escape out of the wind. Once I'd taken my photos I lay down and read my book for an hour which was a lovely way to end my day off.

As ever it's been fun to take part in this monthly challenge. I do hope you've enjoyed this month's offerings from us all. Did you find any new ideas? Or was there something that is so typically you? Whichever, thank you so much for dropping by and please do leave a comment if you've been inspired.

                                                                        Anna x

Hurrah for picnic time!

Hi there! I don't know about you, but we've not had much of a summer here. On Friday however, we had a scorcher of a day, something I'd been watching on the weather forecasts for days and had primed Steve that if it delivered, then we'd be mad not to get out for a picnic. And so, at 11am we bundled said picnic fare, beach towels and all the other necessary accoutrements and off we went in seach of our spot. 

We ended up landing on this tiny cove on the uninhabited island of Tean, opting for a two person beach in the hope that we'd not have to share our spot. I know it sounds terribly antisocial, but we do like to have private time together in the midst of the busy season. The little beach was perfect and was tucked in out of the wind making it a real sun trap. 

By early afternoon, picnic eaten, bottles of beer now empty and skin suitably crisped, we were ready to head off home, but not before I'd captured the moment for posterity. 

Yes, it's time for the Mermaid coat outing! Once a year I love to bring out my dazzling sequin coat, preferably on the beach, and swish about in a cloud of self delusional beauty and joy. Here's a link to a previous session. I'm not sure when this became a thing, but I do like to have these references to previous picnics in different locations. Here's another one. 

I featured this shot on my Instagram feed (see here) yesterday. It does make me smile to regard myself as an OAP in bikini and sequins - who'd think you'd find those three words in the same sentence? Another year on and my tummy is a bit rounder as are my hips and thighs too as age creeps up on me but I'll not succumb to comparisons with those who might undermine my self confidence. This is me as I am now, full stop.

The rustling sound of the sequins as the coat billows out in the wind is a delight to me - one that feeds my imagination, ramping up the glamour factor to the max. Mock me all you like, but it's a heavenly sensation!

The sun behind me gives the illusion of a deep tan and flawless body so of course I'll keep this one for posterity too. 

What a perfect backdrop for the Mermaid coat! I honestly can't believe my luck - this is my real life, not just a holiday snap. Steve and I talked a lot about how fortunate we are and have been to spend our days on these islands able to work in jobs that we are passionate about and have the ablilty to island hop in our downtime to relax in these beautiful surroundings.

The last shot and it was time to pack up and go. We'd had a glorious day on the beach, enjoying each others company and counting our blessings . Posts like these are so valuable to me to refer back to in the long winter months. A reminder that summer will come again and my Mermaid coat with always have another outing!

                                                                Anna x

Primark trouser suit

This is my outfit of the week, a Primark trouser suit that I've had for almost a year now but rarely worn. Initially that was because the trousers were too long and I finally got around to altering those in the spring when I was having my sewing moment. Thereafter I wasn't terribly inspired by the two piece simply because it was a) very plain and b) quite boxy in shape giving a masculine outline. 

Anyway, I've recently aired it a couple of times and haven't exactly fallen in love with it, but am trying my best to convince myself that it deserves to be worn. What do you think?

I feel that the citrus colours work really well together making the whole outfit pop which is a point in its favour. I've worn my orange and lime Dr Martens to add a funky edge too.

I bought this fabulous brooch especially to add as a permanent feature to the suit as I feel it really does lift it out of the ordinary. The maker is Caroline Kelly Foreman, one of the jewellers we stock at Gallery Tresco - you can see the full range of her work on her instagram page here. Caroline works in recycled aluminium and resin to great effect and sells through her Etsy shop too.

So what do you think of this outfit of the day? Is it a tangerine dream? The jury's out on my part and I'd love to have your opinion to help me decide if this is a keeper. I probably didn't help myself by wearing this on one of the hottest days of the year! The lime green (shows up as more lemon here) Primark bodysuit acted as a second skin, one that got hotter and hotter as the day went on... 

                                                                        Anna x

Samson evening

Hello and thank you once again for taking the time to visit my blog - I do appreciate it! I went for a trip to Samson island the other evening with Mel, my Gallery Tresco Assistant from last year and Jodie who's been stepping in to do some blog photos recently. Steve dropped us across in our little boat, Leah Dancer, which was a bit lively to say the least. He let the boat run up onto the beach and we had to hop out between the waves - I almost got stuck with one leg in and one out but the girls held on tight and pulled me onto the sand.

Mel is due to leave the UK this autumn and will return home to New Zealand by the end of the year, but that's not before she and her partner Pete have packed in a bit more travelling in Europe and the Far East too. I do so admire their wanderlust! The evening on Samson was one of several farewell's Mel is having with many friends that she's made over the past two years. We took some beers and snacks and had a good old chinwag for a couple of hours.

And of course, Jodie did a great job of taking some snaps of my outfit of the day! This was my work outfit and one of my favourites from this summer. The dress was a last minute find from New Look when I was in Truro in June. It has a very 70's vibe and feels so lovely and swishy to wear. It has capped sleeves and an elasticated waistband but I love to add a stretch belt as a finishing feature. 

The jacket was a Vinted purchase and is by Forever 21. Orange, orange and more orange was the theme today, but it feels such a joyful outfit to wear.

We missed the best of the evening sunlight and it was also very windy as you can see, but it was still fun trying to capture some atmospheric shots for the blog. My accessories are these pretty shoes by Rocket Dog from TK Maxx - again they have pretty crocheted flowers like the multicoloured ones seen previously. Rings are old and pre-loved, sunglasses are by Radley London and the necklace was from Accessorize last year. 

I'd hoped for a lovely quiet sunny evening for our outing, but island life means you have to be quite resiliant weatherwise so we had cosy layers at the ready for when the sun dropped.

And here we are, all heading home again. Mel on the left and Jodie on the right. It was so good to get off-island and catch up with each others news.

Bye bye Samson! You never know, we might manage another little jaunt together before Mel leaves at the end of the month...

                                                                        Anna x